Angels of the Stars, Heroes of the Elements
by NeverEnding Sky
Summary: The Brawlers set in a medieval fantasy. Julie is a princess, Shun is a master thief, Marucho is a scholar, Runo is the innkeeper's daughter, Dan is a farmer's son, and Alice? Alice is the traveler who will change their lives forever. DanxRuno, ShunxAlice
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first fan fiction. Please read and reply. Don't worry, I can handle the criticism! ; ) Also, let me know if you find anything confusing. This story takes place in a completely different setting with a few similarities besides the characters. Everyone is older, like 17 or 18.**

**I don't one Bakugan or any of the territory that comes with it.**

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_In the center of the universe, a clock stands, the celestial bodies turning around it. Six figures stand at even intervals around the faces of the clock. Each one is cloaked and hooded, still as statues. For ten thousand years, not one has moved. The single hand on the clock stays pointed at the one standing on the XII, as if time has stopped._

_Music begins to play in the back growing, a soft lullaby, slowly growing louder. For the first time in ten centuries, each figures' arms slowly move forward until their arms are straight in front of them, palms turned up and cupped. An element begins to grow in the hands of each figure; fire, earth, light, dark, water, air. The single hand of the clock begins to turn, slowly at first. Each element grows in size, becoming wilder with each passing second. The hand of the clock spins faster and faster, so rapidly it begins to blur and become hard to see._

_Suddenly, the music stops. The spinning of the clock ends abruptly, stopping on the VI, where the figure holding the element of dark stands. The other figures let their elements drop, hurdling through the clock and into the universe._

_It's twilight in the land of Satiran. A three-year old boy on a farm looks up from his room through the window. A two year-old girl, sitting on her father's lap, looks up into the clear, night sky. A three-year old boy, sitting on a roof next to his mother, stares up at the stars. The young princess, barely a year old, turns over in her bed, looking out the window. A new-born baby, cradled by his mother, opens his eyes for the first time, seeing the dark sky. At the same time, each child sees a shooting star streaking across the universe. A change occurs in each child, one that will change the course of their destinies._

_The final figure, holding the element of dark, stands alone as its brothers return to their motionless state. The dark begins to change, separating into the deepest black and purest, most beautiful shade of purple. They dance around each other, mixing. Finally, the final figure releases its element and returns to its state of stillness._

_In a land many days away from Satiran, a young woman holds the hand of a two-year old girl. She hurries as the night grows dark, realizing she is running out of time. The woman stops suddenly, coming to a small house. She leads the girl up the stairs to the door. Her hand goes to knock, but she withdraws it suddenly, having second thoughts. The young woman draws a deep breath in and raps her knuckles against the door, knowing what must be done. She leans down quickly to the young girl and kisses her forehead. Out of her bag, the woman takes out a silver chain with a small amethyst dangling on it. She opened the little girl's hand and set the necklace in it, closing her tiny first around it. Hearing footsteps coming to the door, the woman hurries back down the street, taking one last look at her beautiful daughter. "Good luck, Alice," she whispers under her breath. As her mother hurries away, Alice looked up into the sky, seeing a shooting star overhead. _

Fifteen Years Later ~~~

"Well, we finally made it to Aliskia, Ebony," a young woman cooed into her horse's ear. The beautiful girl stroked her horse's neck, who almost seemed to smile. The young woman looked back up at the city with bright, brown eyes. She shook her head a little to get the bangs of her long, curly, red hair out of her eyes.

The pair was on a cliff in the forest, standing over the ridge to get a good look at Aliskia. It was on the coast of the Azura Sea, a big city surrounded by tall, white walls. The forest abruptly ended as the hills ebbed down into flat land, as if the spot had created perfectly for the capital of Satiran.

The young girl would have loved to be able to sight see and just relax, but she wasn't on a pleasure trip. She had a mission to complete. The girl pulled piece of paper out of her leather rucksack. Five names read across it; Dan, Runo, Marucho, Shun, Julie. A sigh escaped her lips. Only names, no descriptions, no locations, no nothing. They had told her she would feel an instant connection when she met them. That should be enough.

The woman put her list back into her rucksack. She straightened out her green dress that fell to her ankles, forcing her to ride sidesaddle. Over the green dress was a shorter, strapless, white dress. A brown cloak was fastened just below her neck, falling over her back and spilling over onto Ebony's. A small amethyst hung around her neck on a silver chain. She pulled her hood up and took her horse's reigns.

"Come on, let's go, girl," she said, bringing the horse back to the path.

**Well, what'd ya think? Please reply! Please? Please?**


	2. Chapter 2 Harvest's Eye

**Okay, so yeah yeah yeah, I know, I dropped off the frickin' face of the earth for like SIX MONTHS! Stupid school and overly hard classes and too much homework . . . *sigh* Sorry, I know you don't want to hear my excuses. Point is, I totally have the time to write now, so I'll try to get you guys plenty of chapters.**

**Thank you to all my repliers and even you readers who didn't reply. It made my day when I checked the story traffic a couple days after posing this and saw I got 39 hits in one day. I love you all so much and because I owe you, I'll try to get you a chapter every couple of days for the summer. I'm also working on some new stuff, so please read that stuff to when I get it up.**

**Okay, enough of my blah blah blahing, I don't own Bakugan and all its stuff, please enjoy this chapter!**

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"Is this the place sir?" a rough voice grunted. The tall young man, obviously the leader, turned to him and nodded. The sun was setting over Aliskia, but the city was far from quiet. Mothers were preparing dinner, children were running and laughing before bed, workers, tired from their day, were lining up at their favorite inns for an evening of drinking, and none was more popular than Harvest's Eye.

On a tall building across the street from Harvest's Eye, ten cloaked figures stood on the roof, barely visible in the last glimpse of sunlight. In the front stood a tall boy with long black hair tied back. His long bangs fell in front of his pale brown eyes, sharp with cleverness and dark like his heart.

"Harvest's Eye brings in a huge revenue each night, and with the king's ball just days away, even more traveler's are staying at this inn," he explained to his crew. "It's the perfect way to make ourselves known before the ball." The group nodded to their leader.

"Shun," a woman said, stepping forward. "What do we do now?" Shun smiled inwardly. The woman, Sora, was an old friend of his, but he couldn't acknowledge that in front of the others.

"We go back to the base and begin preparing weapons. Pick carefully. Too much metal will way us down," Shun ordered. The others nodded again and turned around, running to the other side of the roof. Gracefully, each one leapt across the alleyway and landed on the next roof. The top of the city was their chosen path. They continued to the next roof then the next. anyone who saw them only caught a glimpse, loosing them almost instantly again into the shadows.

Shun watched them go, but remained a while, something he had learned from his mother. Always separate yourself as the leader, she had told him. He sighed, his heart hurting at the thought of her. Shun had been a thief since he was young, one of the youngest members of the crew. His mother had been the leader, a master thief. When she died suddenly several years ago, he knew he had to take over. He wasn't in the thieving for the money, but to carry on her legacy.

Shun knew he had to follow them eventually. He took one last glance at the inn. Something suddenly caught his eye. A beautiful girl was going inside. Her hair was lovely, long and red, her face was soft and gentle, she seemed to glow like a beautiful soul. He wanted to go down there, meet her, introduce himself. He had the instant sensation that he had met her before, as if even though he knew they had never met, they were old friends.

Shun shook these thoughts from his head. No, he had a job to due, and responsibility to his mother. Trying to get his mind back on task, Shun turned swiftly, running quickly to the next roof and disappearing from sight.

*Whooshy Background Noise* Point of View Change: Runo!

(I bet you all thought it would be Alice . . .)

"Waitress!" a large mustached and sweaty man called. A girl shoving her way through the crowd of drunken men turned around, seething with anger. "What?!" she shouted.

"I ordered a glass of whiskey almost an hour ago! What is taking so long?" he demanded.

"Well," the girl started in a fake polite voice. "If you hadn't noticed . . . THERE ARE A MILLION CUSTOMERS IN HERE!!!!!" she screamed. "You're just going to have to wait your turn!!!!!"

"Runo!" a familiar voice said. Her dad pushed his way towards them, stepping in front of her. "I'm sorry sir," he told the customer. "I promise we'll get you that whiskey as soon as possible, on the house." He took Runo by the arm and lead her back into the kitchen where her mother and the other hired cooks were busy at work.

"Runo, you have to be polite to the customers!" her dad reminded her. Runo crossed her arms and scowled.

"Okay, he was rude first!" Runo tried to explain. "He-"

"I don't care Runo," her dad stopped her. "Just get back to work and try not to drive away anymore customers, alright?"

Letting out a loud, "Hmph!" Runo went to grab the next tray of food. Her blue hair was braided behind her, falling down her back. Her bangs covered her frustrated green eyes. She wore a white apron over a brown dress. Runo hated dressing so plain, but when she was a waitress, she would rather where this than something nicer than could get food all over it.

Trying to make her way once again through the rowdy crowd, Runo pressed passed loud men, trying to make it to whatever table this food even was supposed to go to. "Excuse me!" she shouted, trying to back her way through. A beefy shoulder shoved into her suddenly. wheeling back, Runo gasped as she started to fall, afraid she would spill the food everywhere. She shut her eyes tight, bracing for impact.

Runo never hit the ground. A strong arm wrapped around her, catching her before she fell. Opening her eyes, Runo found herself starring into the face of a grinning Dan, her in one arm and her food tray on his other hand.

"Hi Runo," he said casually, pulling her back to her feet. Feeling proud of his rescue, Dan smiled from ear to ear, brushing the mat of brown hair on his head out of his red eyes. He was dressed simple, being a farm boy. The only thing out of place was the sword hanging from his belt, not something normally used by a farmer.

"Hi Dan" Runo said in a flat voice. On the inside, she was happy to see him, but she'd never give him the satisfaction of knowing that. She sat the food tray down on the proper table and began moving back to the kitchen, grabbing Dan's arm and pulling him with her.

"Where are we going?" Dan asked as she dragged him along. Runo marched inside the kitchen and came back out with a white apron.

"Tonight, you're a waitress," Runo ordered, throwing it at him.

"What?!" Dan shouted.

Runo picked up a tray and handed another one to Dan. "That one goes to that table in the corner," Runo said, pointing.

"Okay, but you owe me big time for this, Runo," Dan said. "And a 'Thank you for catching me' would be nice."

Runo turned to him, glaring at him. "Thank you," Runo said, as if it was painful. She didn't truly mind, but they could never just be nice to each other.

Point of View Change: Now Alice!

Alice looked up suddenly as she entered the inn, Harvest's Eye. Her eyes scanned the roof off the building across the street. She had the strangest feeling someone had been watching her, but she didn't see anyone. Alice tried brushing it off, going inside. She had put Ebony in the inn's stable and had brought her small pack with her.

Alice was immediately hit by a wall of sound from constant drunken yells. The air was thick with the stench of booze, sweat, and delicious cooking. She winced a little, hating how loud it was. She tried pushing her way around the room, trying to find some help.

"Do you need a room?" someone asked behind her. Alice turned around to see a girl with green eyes and long blue hair. She felt a jolt inside of her. Instantly, she connected with this girl. _Runo_ something said in her brain, or heart. Alice felt as if she could hug this girl, like they were long lost sisters. Alice could only ask herself one thing.

Could Runo feel it too?

"Here," Runo said, pushing Alice a door in the back of the main dining room. "Just go upstairs. I'll come bring you some food or something in a minute. Just go inside the closest open room, okay?" Runo held the door open for her, revealing a staircase, herding Alice through. Alice opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but Runo just pushed her along, closing the door behind her.

As she walked away, Runo stopped suddenly. She looked back at the door, thinking of the beautiful red head she had just encountered. Runo sifted through her memories, trying to remember if she knew this girl, she felt so familiar.

"Runo!" she heard Dan shout in distress. A group of men had crowded around him, shouting and looking angry, cracking their knuckles and slamming their fists in their palms. Sighing, Runo went to break up the fight, pushing the thoughts of this girl far from her mind.

**Wow that felt long. Seriously, with all the writing and drawing and stuff I do, I could get voted most likely to get carpal tunnel in the year book next year.**

**In the next chapter: Romance, drama, and a very sexy Dan vs. Shun sword fight! *Fan Girls Squeal* I'll try to get that up as soon as possible. Please reply!**


	3. Chapter 3 Fire, Wind, Darkness, Light

**HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I love you all soooooooooo much! Thank you for all those great reviews, some of them made me just laugh so hard.**

***starts slightly hyperventilating* Please let this live up to expectations, please let this live up to expectations, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssse let this live up to expectations . . .**

**Well, though it to me a while to get this post up, I have improved! Instead of six months, it's only been like, two and half! :) Hooray! *happy dance***

**Again, thanks to all the readers and repliers. I'm approaching a thousand hits!**

**I hope this chapter sounds okay. Most of it was written in my delirium at 2:00 a.m. Ah, the life of a writer . . . Also, I'm afraid the action sequences might feel a little dry. Let me know and give me suggestions, please! **

**I don't own Bakuganess. Please enjoy this chapter!**

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"Never again!" Dan shouted plopping down into a chair and slamming his head onto the table in front of it. "I will never be a waiter again, Runo!"

Runo walked out from the kitchen, which was connected to the rooms her family lived in. Her hair was back in it's pigtails and she was wearing a pretty yellow sundress with a flower on the skirt her mom had embroidered. She was also wearing tall, brown boots.

Runo leaned against his table and smirked. "Waiting tables too tough for you?"

Dan looked up at her and stuck his tongue out and put his head back down, trying to hide his blush. He didn't want her to know how beautiful he thought she looked.

"Well, you got off lucky tonight," Runo said. "We keep having to close earlier and earlier, thanks to the king's new curfews."

"It's all those damn thieves fault!" Runo's dad shouted as he walked into the room, slamming his fist onto the nearest table. Dan heard Runo gasped. He looked up at her face, her expression showing both fear and concern.

"Dad . . ." Runo said. She started walking towards him, but he started shouting again.

"Every night there's another robbery in this city!" Runo winced and stepped back to the table. "And the king's men, they do nothing about it! I swear they're as bad as the thieves themselves. And this Shun character, the rumors about him . . ."

_Shun_. Dan hated to think about someone so close to him in his past. They had always been so close.

Dan lifted up his head and asked, "What kind of rumors?"

Runo's father shook his head and started walking back to the kitchen. "Just ridiculous things. Stuff like he can be in two places at once, or like he works for the king to create a bigger need for his protection. Some even say he can control the wind."

Runo turned around and glared suddenly at Dan. He gave her a sheepish grin. "We have to talk!" she shouted, grabbing his ear and dragging him upstairs. She dragged him to an empty room and slammed the door shut.

Pushing him down onto the bed, she hissed, "Can Shun control the wind?"

"Uh . . ."

"Dan!" she groaned. She slammed her hands into her eyes and groaned.

"Look, who cares? So he can control the wind, what's the big deal?," Dan asked

Runo turned around and crossed her arms. "You didn't tell me, _that's _the big deal."

"Shun's powers don't mean anything to us. It doesn't have anything to do with ours," Dan assured her. "But Runo, what was going on with your dad earlier?"

Runo turned back around, still glaring at him. "He gets mad sometimes, okay? It happens to everyone."

Dan stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. "You seemed pretty freaked out about it," he said gently.

Runo pulled her shoulder away. "I need to go check on the guests," she said quietly, leaving the room. Dan groaned and fell back on the bed, wishing he could get through to her.

Runo walked down the hall, her thoughts drifting back to the oranged haired girl she had met earlier. Did she know her? Runo could swear she did. Runo walked down the hallway and up the next set of stairs. Three doors down on the left was the girl's room. Runo walked up to it, debating whether to see her. Runo lifted her fist, about to knock, when she heard something at the other end of the hall.

The window was open. Runo thought she had heard footsteps, but nothing could get in through a window on the third floor, right? She slowly walked over to the window, stuck her head out, and looked around. She couldn't see anything. Runo shrugged her shoulders and closed the windows, figuring it was nothing. Runo turned back around and started walking back down the hall. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides.

Point of View Change: Shun!

Shun landed easily on the roof of the Harvest's Eye, the other nine thieves following. He turned around and looked to Sora. Their eyes met and he nodded to her. She nodded back. She and three other thieves secured their ropes to the roof and began propelling down the side of the building. Their mission was to take out the first floor and begin working up, while Shun and three others started working their way down. Shun looked to two of the men, Akito and Jin, and nodded to them as well. They jumped began propelling down the roof next, going to secure the stables.

Shun pulled his cloak up over his mouth and nose and secured his own rope. He slid down to a third floor window and took out a small metal object, quickly breaking the lock and opening the window. He jumped through and landed on the wood floor just as a blue-haired girl was coming up the stairs. Shun leaned out the window and motioned to the others to stay on the roof. Then he quickly stepped into the adjoining hallway, pressing his back up against the wall.

It was too late, the girl had seen something. Shun tried to slow his breathing and remain perfectly still and quiet as the girl came and looked out the window, obviously didn't see the thieves, and closed it.

Shun saw the others sliding down to the window. Quickly, he ran up behind the girl and wrapped his arms around her, stopping her mouth so she couldn't scream. She still tried and struggled against him, but Shun held her tight.

"Come on!" he shouted to the others. One of them opened the window and they swung into the hallway. A blast of light suddenly erupted against Shun, forcing him to let go of the girl and slamming him into the wall. He climbed back to his feet quickly, facing her. She turned to him, two balls of light glowing in either hand. Shun pulled out his double swords, ready to fight her. His eyes glanced to the other three thieves. The faces showed slightly shocked expressions, but they were already used to Shun's powers, though he couldn't say he wasn't shocked himself.

"Go," he ordered. They nodded and ran passed the girl, who kept her eyes focused on Shun. She held her arms out in front of her and blasted balls of light at him. Shun rolled out of the way and came at her from the side. He brought the first sword down on her shoulder, but she created a bubble of light around her. Shun's swords bounced off the bubble, forcing him to stumble back a few steps.

As the bubble disappeared, Shun created a blast of wind, accidentally sending the girl flying straight into the glass. She cried out as the glass shattered and she began to fall. Shun gasped and jumped forward grabbing her hand pulling her back into the hallway. Her back was bloody and their could be glass in it.

Sora could do first aid better than anyone Shun had met. "I'll get help for you, just wait-" Shun started to say. Suddenly, a sword came at his head. Shun tilted his head to the side quickly, the sword stabbing into the wall. Shun found himself face to face with a much older version of the Dan he remembered. Shun glanced down at the bloody girl he was holding. Obviously, it looked like he had done this to her on purpose.

_This doesn't look good._

Point of View Change: Dan!

"Runo?" Dan asked, sitting up on the bed. Someone had knocked on the door. He got up from the bed, so glad she had come back. "Runo, look, I didn't mean to make you mad, I just-" Dan said as he opened the door, but stopped. It wasn't Runo. Instead, an orange haired girl in a green dress was standing there.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!" he said, feeling flustered about his mistake. He reached his arm up over his shoulder and scratched the back of his neck. "I thought you were someone else. But anyway, it's good to see you again."

The girl titled her head, a curious look on her face. "So you do think we've met before?" she said, sounding half like she was just thinking out loud.

"Uh, yeah of course!" Dan said, not wanting to admit he'd forgot when or where.

She smiled at him and said, "So what's my name?"

Dan's eyes grew wide. "Um. . . uh?" he said, trying to remember her name. The girl's smile grew wide and she let out a laugh. He smiled as well, getting the feeling she thought he was funny, not stupid.

"Alice," she said. "And you're . . . Marucho?" she guessed, remembering the names on the list.

"No, Dan," he said, a little confused by this Alice.

"Ah!" she said, smiling again, apparently proud of herself. "I'm so glad I found you!"

"What?" he asked, confused again. Suddenly, yelling and shouting erupted from the lower level. They heard a lot of smashing and what sounded like a fight.

"What was that?" Alice asked, sounding scared.

"I don't know," Dan said, his voice serious. He drew his sword out and added, "But I'm going to find out."

Dan started running to the stairs, but quickly realized Alice was following him. "You stay here," he told her, not wanting her to get hurt.

She shook her head. "We'll make a good team. Trust me."

Dan wanted to protest, but if every girl in the world was like Runo, he figured there would be no point. The pair raced down the stairs and into the bar part of the inn. Two woman and two men dress in dark cloaks were fighting Runo's parents. One of the women was tying up Runo's mother while the other woman and one of the men were fighting her father who was using a steak knife from the kitchen. The other man was ransacking the place, looking for money.

Alice gasped as Dan ran at the two thieves fighting Runo's father. He slashed at the man's ribs, but he blocked Dan's sword with his own. The man brought his sword around towards Dan's shoulder, but Dan quickly blocked it, pushed the thief's sword out to the side, and bashed him on the head with the broad side of his sword. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Alice pulled two fans out of her dress, getting ready to fight. She ran towards the man looting the inn. He pulled out several throwing knives, chucking them at the girl. Alice moved out of the way, quickly and easily. She had been in many fights before. Her mind was fully switched into offense mode. Taking one side of each of her fans, she flicked her wrist, fanning out her weapons, revealing they were razor sharp. The man fired another knife at her. She blocked it with her fan, knocking it to the ground. Running up to him, she used her fans to knock his arms out of the way, cutting into his wrists. She brought her knee up quickly into his stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. She spun around behind him, grabbing the ropes from his belt and tying him up so he couldn't fight anyone else.

"Watch it!" she heard Dan yell and heard two swords colliding behind her. She spun around to see Dan fighting with the last thief standing, one of the women. Runo's father had handled the other woman and was untying his wife. Dan slammed his sword into the thief's, throwing her off balance. Alice ran up to her, closing one of the fans. She used the other to block her sword, stepping behind the woman and stabbing the closed fan into her chest, tripping her backwards and sending her to the ground.

She started getting up, but Dan stepped up, putting the point of his sword at her throat. There was anger in his eyes, anger that someone had threatened people so close to him. But he couldn't bring himself to kill this woman. Death wasn't in him. He had promised himself he would never be a killer, no matter how much hate he felt.

Alice ran around the thief, took the rest of her ropes and tied her up too. She could understand Dan's aversion to killing. She had never liked it either.

"Where's Runo?" her mother asked, worry in her voice.

"She was checking on the guests . . ." Dan said. Upstairs, they started to hear more yelling and fighing. He looked to Alice, and asked, "You coming?" She nodded. They ran back up the stairs, Runo's father following them.

On the second floor they found three more thieves threatening the other guests. Dan's eyes scanned the fighting, but he didn't see Runo anywhere. "We don't have time for this!" Dan shouted out of frustration. "We need to find Runo!"

Alice fanned out her weapons with a sharp sound. "You go find her. We'll handle this!" she told him.

Dan and Alice ran through the crowd of fighting guests and thieves, Alice spinning around Dan with her fans, using them to knock away blows and to guarantee he would make it to the next set of stairs. "You gonna be okay here?" he called back to her as he started running up the stairs. A thief ran at Alice, trying to stab her with his sword. She blocked it with one fan, spun around him, and stabbed him in the head with the blunt side of the other fan, closed. "I'll be fine," she assured him.

Dan heard glass breaking as he ran up the stairs. _Runo! _Dan stopped and starred. Runo was bloody and unconscious in Shun's arms. Dan felt that same anger growing stronger than before. He gripped his sword and ran at Shun, stabbing right for his head. Shun moved his head out of the way just in time, Dan's sword stabbing into the wood. They stared at each other, Dan's face full of anger, Shun's face an expression he couldn't read.

Slowly, Shun stepped away and laid Runo down on her side. He slowly drew his swords back out as Dan pulled his out of the wall. They stared at each other, memories of their past together rising back to the surface. Their former friendship, and how betrayed they both felt, it seemed as if all their feelings were spilling out here and now.

Dan acted first, throwing all his weight into a blow at Shun's shoulder. Shun stepped out of the way, forcing Dan to step passed him. He swung one of his swords around Dan's back to try to attempt a blow from behind. Dan ducked down, the sword sailing over his back, leaving Shun open. Dan twisted around to face him again, all the rage in him focusing into fire. A ball formed in Dan's hand. He shot it directly at Shun, hitting a blow. Shun, stumbled back and clutched his hand to the burn in his chest.

Shun got back to his feet, spun around once to gather momentum, and sent two blasts of air out of his swords. It was Dan's turn to fall back. He flew down the hall, landing flat on his back. Shun took one sword in both hands and ran to Dan, bringing the sword point down on him as hard as he could. Dan rolled out of the way quickly and pulled himself back to his feet, despite the pain running through his spine. He grabbed his sword once again and jumped at Shun, trying to bring a blow down on top of him. Shun formed an X with his swords and blocked it, but Dan landed a kick in his ribs under his swords. Shun was knocked back a step, but his stance was studier now, prepared for hard blows. He stepped up once again, spinning around with his swords and trying to strike Dan time after time. Dan started stepping back and blocking the blows with his sword, getting pushed down the hall until he was once again at the stairs. He knew he couldn't fight Shun while going down stairs. He had to think of something.

Dan pushed against his sword hard as he blocked Shun's, trying to throw him off. It worked, their sword's hitting at the right time to send Shun back several steps. Dan gathered his energy and sent a blast of fire at Shun. Shun quickly conjured wind up in front of himself to counteract the fire, but, though he suffered no blows, he flew all the way back to the end of the hall. He took control of the fall and landed back in a fighting stance.

The fighters faced each other now, both breathing heavily and sweating dripping down their foreheads. They were tired and they both knew they couldn't go too many more rounds like this. They had to take the other one out fast. Preparing themselves, they both ran at each other, swords in hand, to try to take the other one out in one last blow.

At that last second before they collided, a wall of darkness appeared in between them. Their swords bounced off the wall. They both blinked at stared at each other's silhouette, which they could just see through the wall.

"Stop it, you guys!" a girl shouted from the stairs. Dan turned around to see Alice standing there, a ball of darkness covering each hand. The darkness faded away, Shun looking past Dan to see the beautiful orange haired girl he had seen earlier. "We're not suppose to be fighting _each other_!" Alice told them.

"Alice, stay out of this!" Dan shouted, eager to finish the fight.

"Don't talk to her that way!" Shun shouted back, immediately feeling defensive over this girl.

Alice gasped suddenly and shouted, "Runo!" She ran passed the boys to the motionless, bloody girl laying on the ground. Alice got down on the knees and lifted Runo into her arms, paying no attention to the blood spilling on her dress. She looked over her shoulder to the boys and shouted them, "Guys, where can we find first aid supplies?"

Shun remembered Sora, and Dan though of Runo's mother, who was also excellent with first aid. "Here, I now where to get some help," Shun said, turning to run down the stairs.

"Yeah, me too," Dan added, following him.

Alice looked down at the girl in her arms. Her eyes were opening slowly, just barely cracking open. She didn't know if she could hear her, but Alice said, "Don't worry, you're going to be okay," just as Runo's eyes fell closed again.

**I started writing this like last Friday and today is Sunday. This feels . . . really long. Oh god, that's what she said. Please excuse me, I need to get my mind out of the gutter. ;) Well, I hope this all sounds okay and I hope you enjoyed it!**

**It was a little hard for me to decide if Alice would be a kick-ass fighter or not, or if she would be more of a wisdom person like in the show, but I decided in my fanfic, she could be both. :) **

**Next chapter: Our first look at Masquerade and Marucho! Don't you worry, Marucho dearest. In my story, you are fifteen, and unlike the actual show creators, I will let you go through puberty and grow past two feet! I'll try to get that up soon. (Don't all roll your eyes at once!) Thanks!**

**P.S. I changed my name to NeverEnding Sky, but I'm not totally sold on it, so could people please give me opinions on whether they liked xXx Nevermore xXx better? You don't have to, just asking. Thanks. :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Alliances Formed

**Wow! Look, I get to specialize messages to people!**

**To Illusion988, emo-child-36, and CrimsonCrystal1230 (and anyone else who thought this) – I too love how Alice is strong and not all weak and cry-y like she is in the show! ^^**

**To bakugan and yugioh 4ever – Correct. ;)**

**To Little Disappointed Child, Crawling n the Dark, and Santa – Let's call it a late Christmas present.**

**To mayandrew – Another story like this? Gosh, that would be so fun! If only I was a better updater. If I ever get better, then I'll write more than one Bakugan story.**

**To lightXhopeXblossom – An umbrella? That would be an interesting weapon for Runo . . . I've already got one picked out unfortunately, but . . . *tucks away for later***

**And just to all my readers and reviewers in general – You are all super amazing and thank you for all your kind words! I'm glad to know this is living up to expectations so far and I hope to continue that pattern. Maybe I'll get better at updating (when you wish upon a star). I'll make an effort! I promise!**

**I don't own Bakugan and I don't know why I need to keep saying this because it's obvious I don't. Now please enjoy Chapter 4!**

* * *

Marucho had never been able to sleep on the night of a full moon. The dreamer side of him wanted to credit this to something magical and meaningful, but the scholar in him said it was simply because the moon controlled the tides, and hence controlled him because of his mysterious control over water. He laughed quietly to himself, realizing that that was magical in itself. Then realized how dull his sense of humor had become after spending all his days around the old scholars.

He pushed himself out of bed, making it behind him, before walking over to his dresser and pulling out a white button up shirt and a simple pair of pants. Marucho dressed himself and pulled on his shoes, before leaving the room and walking down the hall. It was nice to live in a beautiful place like the house of scholars. It was built like a temple, made out of marble, with a courtyard in the middle, right where Marucho was heading.

He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows as he entered the courtyard, feeling a sort of high after walking into the moonlight. The courtyard was filled with flowers and trees, but the fountain in the middle took center stage. Marucho walked over to it and sat on the edge, leaning over the water to look at his reflection.

He had always been a late bloomer. Even at the age of thirteen, he had still looked like he was barely five, just a small person. In just a couple of years, though, he had shot up, growing to be almost six feet, and while he was basically a stick, he had filled out some. He'd cut his hair, and now it started sticking up instead of laying flat. He'd even added his own personal touch, using his healing powers to get rid of the mole on his forehead. The only thing that remained the same about his appearance was his half-moon, red rimmed glasses.

Marucho took his thoughts elsewhere, hating to care too much about his looks. He held his hand out over the surface of the water, drawing it up to him. He pulled his hand around, the water dragging like a snake over the surface behind it.

Marucho's ears perked up suddenly. There was someone else in the courtyard. He could hear them in the trees. Marucho couldn't imagine what someone would be doing in the trees, but drew the water up into a ball around his hand anyway as he went to the tree he heard the rustling from, just in case.

He stepped under the tree, looking up through the branches, but was surprised to see nothing. _What the-_ he thought in confusion.

"MARUCHO!" Marucho jumped a foot in the air and whirled around in anger to Dan's face, him hanging upside down from the tree behind him. "Oh, scared you, didn't I?" he said with a laugh. Marucho splashed the ball of water into his face and stormed back to the fountain.

"What do you want, Dan?" he shouted after sitting back down, hiding his secret happiness to see his best friend. It was always fun when Dan snuck into the House, but at this time of night? It seemed unusual.

Marucho waited for an answer, but then realized that Dan's silence was even more unusual. He turned back around with curiosity to Dan, who had gotten down from the tree and was standing a few feet from him, a serious and slightly sad look in his eye. "Dan, what's going on?" Marucho asked slowly, feeling the entire atmosphere of there meeting change.

Dan sighed and said, "Runo's hurt. I need your help."

Marucho gave him a confused look. "We both know her mother's a fine healer. Why do you need me?"

"Her injuries aren't your everyday ones," Dan explained, sounding very worried. Marucho understood why. He knew how he felt about her. "Look, I'll explain what happened later, she just needs some serious help."

Marucho nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Point of View Change: Shun!

"So what's the deal with you and this Dan kid?" Sora asked Shun, the two of them leaning on the wall of the hallway. They were outside Alice's room, where Runo was resting in the bed. Sora and Runo's mom had done their best to help her, but they couldn't do much for such serious wounds. Now Dan had run off to who knows where while Alice watched Runo. The other thieves that followed Shun had gone back to their base. Shun and Sora were the only ones left.

"I don't want to talk about it," Shun said roughly, crossing his arms.

"Really? Because I'm heading out if you want to be like that," Sora said playfully. "Although I'm sure you'd like that, huh?"

"Sora, what are you talking about? You know I want you around," Shun told her, looking over at her.

"But you'd also like to be alone with the cute girl with orange hair," Sora said with a wink.

Shun had never been one to deal with drama like this, although it was nice to be around Sora when they could teach each other like this, instead of always having to be serious around the others. He simply smiled over at her instead of responding with words. She smiled back. "Okay, I'll keep those kids back at the base under control. See you when you get home." She pushed herself off the wall and headed down the hallway towards the window. _Once a thief, always a thief, I suppose_, Shun thought as she slipped out the window, of course preferring to take the roofs home instead of the street.

Shun opened the door and walked into the room, seeing Runo laying unconscious in the bed and Alice sitting in a chair next to her, tenderly holding her hand. _It's so strange_, Shun thought to himself, _this instant bond we all feel when we first meet. _

Alice looked up at him now and smiled, saying, "Hey."

Shun once again leaned against the nearest wall and smiled back. "Hey," he responded. "How's she doing?"

Her smiled disappeared to be replaced by a look of worry. "Well, good news, she doesn't seem to be doing any worse. Bad news, she's not doing any better."

The room was quiet for a moment, the guilt filling Shun forcing his mouth to remain shut. It was his fault that Runo was hurt, of course. He hadn't even recognized her. They hadn't seen each other since they were little kids, and she was so much older now. When they were young, it had always been Shun, Dan, and her hanging out together, but even then he hadn't known she could control light like she could.

"You feel pretty bad about Runo, huh?"Alice asked suddenly.

Shun looked up to her, surprised that she could read his feelings so easily. "Yes," he admitted after a minute of silence. "I-I didn't mean to hurt her like that. I just . . . wasn't thinking." It was true. When Shun blasted Runo into that window, he hadn't been thinking. He had just been fighting without considering the consequences.

"Don't worry. I don't know if it means much, but I know that you're not a bad guy. You wouldn't try to hurt someone who meant you no harm like this," Alice told him, looking back down at Runo. This surprised Shun, and he looked back down at his feet as his cheeks grew hot from how flustered her kindness made him. He knew he didn't deserve it.

Shun wanted to say more, but the door suddenly burst open and Dan rushed in, puling a tall, blonde boy behind him who was muttering angerly about how it wasn't necessary to drag him.

Alice looked up and decidedly said, "Marucho."

"Yep!" Dan replied.

Marucho looked at Alice, obviously feeling the same connection, and asked, "Do I know you?"

"No," Shun, Dan, and Alice all said at once.

"Okay," Marucho said, obviously confused. His eyes fell to Runo, still unconscious. Marucho walked over and kneeled down next to Alice, pulling the blanket off of Runo to look at her wounds. He raised his eyebrows, his sign of shock, at how torn up her arms seemed. He realized suddenly that there was too much blood on the sheets to just be her arms. Marucho gently rolled her over and his eyes grew wide as he saw how cut up and bloody her back was.

"What happened?" Marucho asked putting emphasis on each word.

"She fell through a window," Alice responded.

"Fell?" Dan cut in.

Marucho looked over at Alice. "Uh . . ."

"Alice."

"Alice. Could you go get me a bowl of water? You can probably get one in the kitchen," Marucho told her. She nodded and walked passed Dan and Shun and out of the room.

Instantly the room grew quiet and a tense feeling filled the air. Marucho noticed this immediately and looked up to see Dan and Shun glaring at each other.

"Oh my god," Marucho groaned. "Are you Shun?" he asked boy with the long black hair. He had heard all the stories from Dan, although he had never actually met Shun, but still knew enough that having them in the same room was about as dangerous as having two starving jungle cats together. "Am I going to have to build a wall between you two?"

Shun pushed himself off the wall and walked out of the room, quietly saying, "I'll just wait in the hallway," feeling like he owed Dan. He closed the door on his way out.

"So when did Shun get here?" Marucho asked. "And Alice is . . . ?"

"Well, Master Thief Shun out there decided the inn was his next target. And Alice . . ." Dan began, but stopped, realizing for the first time that he knew absolutely nothing about her. She was a completely stranger.

She walked back in the room at that moment and the conversation ceased. Alice smiled at Marucho and set the bowl of water next to him, saying, "Here you go!"

Even if she was a stranger, Marucho couldn't help smiling back at her. There was just something about this Alice that just made you like her. "Thanks, Alice," he said. "Now there's something else I need you to do for me."

"What?" Alice asked.

"I need the two of you to wait in the hallway while I heal Runo so I can focus," Marucho said. "Alice, that means it's your job to not let Dan and Shun kill each other."

Alice smiled again and said, "Will do."

They left the room as Marucho took the bandages off Runo's back, glad it was her bare back he was seeing and not her front so Dan wouldn't punch him out later. He held his hand out over the bowl of water and pulled it up, letting it flow from his hand to Runo's back, healing being a special power water gave him. He took a deep breath and let his energy run through him to her to do what he could to help her.

Point of View Change: Runo!

Runo cracked her eyes open, trying to remember what had just happened. _Shun_, she thought. Shun had been in their inn, and they had fought. Where was he now? Runo pushed herself up on her elbows in the bed and looked around the room, recognizing one of the rooms of the inn.

"Morning, sunshine," Marucho said, realizing she was up. He was sitting on a chair next to her bed, smiling at her.

"Marucho? When did you get here? Where's Dan? And, Shun . . ." Runo asked him.

"Dan came to get me to heal you," Marucho told her. The memory of crashing through the window shot back to Runo, and slowly it dawned on her that while she could feel pain and was sore, she felt relatively okay for a person who had flown through glass, obviously because of Marucho.

"Thanks," Runo told him, smiling.

Marucho smiled back and continued, "Dan and Shun are out in the hallway. Alice is doing her best to be a barrier between them."

"Alice?" A faint memory of a girl holding her was in Runo's mind. She realized it was the same girl she had met earlier, and that she must be Alice.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door and Dan's voice filtered though. "Marucho? We heard talking. Is Runo awake?"

"Yeah!" Marucho called back. "You guys can come in."

The door opened and the three walked in, Alice and Dan walking over to see Runo while Shun stood in the doorway, realizing she would of course be angry with him.

"Runo, how are you feeling?" Alice asked her, kneeling down next to her bed.

"Pretty good, thanks to Marucho," Runo said with a smile.

"Glad to hear," Dan added in.

"If everyone's okay here," Shun muttered quietly, "I suppose I'll head back to my home." He pushed himself off the wall and walked to the door, but Dan blocked his way, drawing out his sword again.

"You really think you're just going to walk out of here?" Dan shouted. "After all that?"

Shun starred at him for a moment and said simply, "Yeah." Dan let out a low growl of frustration and lunged his sword at Shun. Shun stepped back, but a beam of darkness wrapped around his sword and jerked it out of his hand, delivering the sword to Alice.

Marucho let out a small laugh. "You control darkness?" He thought about how sweet she seemed. "That's a bit of a misplaced power."

"Guys, I told you already. We're all suppose to be working together," Alice pleaded with the boys.

"Alice, he broke into my home, tried to steal from us, and hurt me and my parents!" Runo spoke up from the bed. "If nothing else, we at least need to turn him into the authorities."

Marucho ignored Runo's comment, focusing more on Alice. "What do you mean we're suppose to be working together? Alice, what do you know about us?"

"Is this really the time for that?" Dan shouted at Marucho.

"Look, I know I'm not wanted here," Shun said, his voice softer than it had been. "Dan, let me go. I promise none of you will ever have to see me again."

"Shun," Alice said softly. "Please stay. We need you here."

Before either boy could make any more protests, Marucho held up his hands with an annoyed look on his face. "Guys, I know you are both equally thickheaded, but would it be too much to listen to Alice for just a moment?"

"Here, Alice, sit down," Runo told her, patting the end of the bed. "We'll listen, right Dan?" she said, shooting him a look.

Dan let out a huffy sigh and slouched against the wall. Shun leaned up against the one across from him as Alice gathered her thoughts, thinking of what to say.

"Let's start with where you came from," Marucho offered.

Alice nodded. "I came from the a small village at the base of the Hynun mountains."

"That's quite a ways to travel. Did you come here by yourself?" Marucho asked her.

She nodded. Dan thought back to the way she fought. The fact that she could travel that far on her own didn't surprise him.

"I was sent here by my grandfather," Alice continued. "He's a researcher. He believes that this connection and these powers we share must mean something. He wanted me to find you all and bring you back with me to our home."

There was silence for a moment after that. "I-I understand that it would be a lot to ask of all of you, to leave your homes, but . . . I don't know, do you all really think this happened by accident?"

"I've always wondered that," Marucho said quietly. "I mean, there isn't anyway to explain them." He studied Alice for a moment. Her eyes looked over at him suddenly and they held each others gaze. "I'll go with you."

"Marucho!" Dan interrupted suddenly. "You'd go just like that?"

"What do I really have here, Dan?" Marucho asked him with serious eyes. "I've always wanted to see more of this world. This is my chance."

"I'll go too," Runo said, laying her hand on Alice's and smiling at her. "I feel the same way as you, Marucho," she added, turning and smiling at him as well. "I don't want to pass this up."

Marucho and Runo turned and looked at Dan expectantly. He groaned, but on the inside, he was happy as he said, "Fine, I'll come too." They had all always felt a painful restlessness in this city.

"Shun?" Alice looked up at him.

He didn't look back at her. He was quiet for a long time before he said, "No, Alice. I'm not going with you."

"Shun-" Marucho started, but Dan cut him off.

"Oh, let him go! If he doesn't want to come, we don't need him."

Shun pushed himself off the wall and walked for the door. Alice pulled herself off the bed and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Please, Shun. We all have to be in this together," she said softly, a sadness in her voice.

"I'm sorry," he said simply before shrugging her hand off his shoulder and walking through the door closing it behind him. Alice's face fell as she just starred at the closed door.

"Alice-" Runo started gently.

"No, it's fine," Alice said quickly, turning around. "We have to find someone else, anyway, a person named Julie."

"The princess?" Runo asked.

"I suppose . . . "Alice said, although she didn't know. If she was the princess, it would be much harder to find her and talk with her.

"Julie can control rock," Marucho said. "It makes sense that we need to find her next."

"How do you know that?" Dan asked his friend.

Marucho shrugged. "We talk a lot. She knows about my powers as well. It can be hard to find some your own age in the palace. We've been friends since we were kids."

"Could you get us in the palace to talk to her?" Alice asked him.

Marucho shook his head. "I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks, actually. With her wedding to Prince Klaus coming up, she's been pretty busy."

"Wedding?" Dan asked. "She's only, like, sixteen."

"Dan, don't you pay attention?" Runo asked. "She's in an arranged engagement to the prince from the Hynun country, where Alice is from, actually."

"Well, there is a ball being held for them tomorrow night, the night before the wedding. If we want even a chance of taking her with us, we're going to have to talk to her then," Marucho told them.

"A ball?" Runo asked. "Ugh, that's such a hassle. We'll have to get all dress up and act fancy . . ."

"I see you can barely contain your enthusiasm," Marucho said with an eye roll, "But it's the only time we have. It might be more of a physical fight actually . . ." This statement was met with blank stares. "Look, I don't know if Julie is thrilled about an arranged marriage, so convincing her to come with us won't be hard. However, getting her out of the castle . . ."

"So basically we're kidnapping her?" Dan asked shortly.

"In her father's eyes, yes, but she won't exactly be resistant."

"We should probably get some rest then," Alice said. Runo studied her eyes. It was clear she wasn't with them in that room.

"Here, Alice, I'll take you to another room," Runo told her, pushing herself out of the bed. Marucho stood with her, putting his arms out to steady his patient. "I'm fine," she assured him. Still, Alice held out her arm the way a gentleman would for Runo so she could lean on her. Runo looked reluctant for a moment, but hooked her arm under Alice's and leaned slightly.

The girls walked down the hall, Runo checking for empty rooms until they came to an empty one closer to the window at the end of the hall.

"Can you walk back alone?" Alice asked Runo as she opened the door.

"Yup," Runo said with a nod and a grin. "You just let me or my parents know if you need something, alright?"

"Alright," Alice answered with a smile of her own. She watched as Runo wobbled back down to her room, feeling oddly happy. She walked into the room, stripped off her dress, and crawled beneath the sheets, still smiling in the dark. Alice was unused to such kindness. These people were being so nice to her, it almost made her feel bad about lieing to them.

Point of View Change: Shun! (Again!)

Shun sat on another roof, cross legged with his head on his hands. It was all too much to taken in. It had started out a simple robbery, routine for him. But then running into Dan and Runo, and then meeting this girl . . . So much change was happening too fast. A turmoil lump had formed in his stomach. He had an aching feeling that he had done the wrong thing by walking away. He wasn't even sure so much it was because of Dan, but maybe because he was just . . . scared.

"Hey," Sora said softly as she walked across the roof to him. She took a seat and rubbed his his back for a moment. "Bad night?"

Shun was quiet for a moment before he said, "Alice wants me to leave with her."

"Eloping already? You just met the girl," Sora teased him.

Shun tried to smile, but he couldn't. "She wants to take me because of my powers, along with Dan, Runo, and a boy named Marucho."

"Huh," Sora murmured. Shun couldn't tell what she was thinking. "So what are you going to do?"

"I told her no," Shun answered her.

"Why?" Sora asked. "There's a lot more out there than this city."

"What about you guys?"

Sora was quiet for a moment. "I would miss you a lot Shun, but as long as you promise to come back. I could handle the kids," she said with a playful elbow to his shoulder.

"I promised my mother that I would be a phantom thief," Shun reminded her.

"Hmmmmm, yeah," Sora said lightly, "but Shun, you're mother was an adventurer. She'd want you-"

Shun's hand went to Sora's shoulder as he whispered quickly, "Someone else is on the roof." Shun drew one of his swords and Sora took the other, having come to the roof without hers. They spun around quickly as they came to their feet, but were knocked back down immediately as bolts of darkness slammed against them. Both were back on their feet in seconds, Shun thinking for a moment that Alice was attacking them, but he looked to find it wasn't her. Another man was standing there in a dark cloak. His hair stood straight up on his head, a yellow blond, with a large, strange mask that covered his eyes.

Shun and Sora ran at their attacker, each taking him from one side. Dark shields projected from either hand, blocking their blows.

"Sora, get down!" Shun shouted. He blasted the man with wind as Sora dropped to her stomach. The man flew in the air, regaining control and turned it into a flip, landing on the edge of the roof at the other side of Sora. She flipped back to her feet, holding her sword at arms length, the point touching the man's kneck. A confident smirk spread across his lips.

"That was excellent work with your gift, Shun," he said. Shun looked at him curiously, Sora glancing back at Shun.

"Who are you?" Shun asked him, an edge to his voice.

"My name," the man began, "is Masquerade. I've seen the work you're done, Shun, and I must say, I'm impressed. You have certainly mastered the wind, haven't you?"

"What do you want?" Shun shot at him.

"I've come to you seeking an alliance," Masquerade said in his same confident tone. Sora pressed the sword tighter into his kneck. "Perhaps if you asked your . . . lady friend to stand aside, we could speak properly?"

Shun walked up to her, but gave no instruction to remove the sword. "I have no interest in an alliance with you," Shun said simply. "We'll let you leave in peace, but do not come back."

"Are you sure about that, Shun?" Masquerade asked him. "I am quite powerful myself, as you have seen. We could really be quite a team." He was quiet for one moment, before continuing, "Now wouldn't your mother be proud of you? Imagine the chaos you could stir in this city if we worked together."

Shun was quiet then. Sora's elbow jabbed him lightly in the ribs, a clear sign not to listen. Shun tried brushing it off. He reached up and gently pulled the sword down from his kneck. Masquerade smiled.

"I'm glad you'll consider my offer Shun," he told him. He held on his hand. "We'll make a great team."

Shun was hesitant still, and he could feel Sora bristling next to him, but slowly, he took Masquerade's hand and shook it.

**Wow that felt like a lot of talking . . . probably because it **_**was**_** a lot of talking. Well, I'm sorry for the lack of action, but I promise it will pick up plenty in the next couple of chapters. And I'm sorry if this one was a little dry, but next we have a ball! Oh, a ball. I feel like a seventh grader again. So, this will be enjoyable for you seventh graders and hopefully for you non-seventh graders as well. Next chapter, we will see our first look at Princess Julie (fitting, no?), and a few other familiar faces. Thank you all for reading! You all rock!**


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